Pondering Babies and God

I read something the other day on grace. I am not a Calvinist (but some of my best friends are). I probably do not fully grasp the positions they hold and I have little time to study them in the depth needed to fully grasp them. Based on what I do know, I think that the world view of the  bible is not Calvinist. I am a Catholic who is very biblical. I consider that to be the default position of 'vanilla Christianity'.

The helpless newborn is a model for out relationship with God. The baby offers nothing, can do nothing, needs everything, depends upon us for all things. I am aware that we caregivers make a decision to provide for him. Each day we have the choice to keep him alive or to withdraw. Left on his own, he would not last a terribly long time.

One thing Calvinists are clear on is our radical dependence upon God. I am onboard with that idea. I am also aware that the distance between God's intellect and my intellect is far greater than the distance between my new born and I.

Newborns, after all, do breath and drink and their bodies function. There are any number of things which he does on his own. Also, there are countless others who could come in right now and provide the same level of care which we do. I am sure lots of folks would be better at it than I am.

God, on the other hand, is the only One Who functions as He does. No other entity can take His place. He sustains every single aspect of creation (even as creation functions on its own, in some sense, I think).

We are not aware of our absolute dependence much of the time. We make plans and work and go about our daily lives. The last few days, I have ceased going about my daily life. It is a challenge. I do not often sit for hours at a time "doing nothing." I am not used to sitting and being "unproductive." As I sit holding baby boy, looking at him breathe and grimace (and what looks like a smile!), I am trying to just "be" in the moment. I tell him, "I love you" in part because I need to learn to love him. I study his features, taking them in, aware that like his brother and sister he will grow and change and this moment together will disappear into the mists of lost memories. I forgot how much time is spent just sitting and holding. And I think of God, staring at us. Watching us. Tending to us in ways which we do not discern. I think of how unaware I am of all He has done for me.

Life is all grace. It is a gift. God's love is a gift as well. Unearned and unmerited. His act of rescue is a gift. We cannot do anything to warrant His intervention.

But my son will have to grow and work and struggle in days ahead. He is given each breath as a gift, but he must work his lungs (and it does sound like work) to take each gift breath in. If he wants to talk, to sit, to walk, then he will work at it. He will struggle with mistakes. He will experience a given-ness in the process (GIFT) but also a task. HIs life will be full of challenges and more than a few failures.

I think that is what the Bible teaches. The journey. The unmerited gift. The struggle. The gracious blessing. I hope to teach my son all these things. I also share them with you. These are my thoughts as I ponder the blessing of my life this day.